3 Cardinals players the NY Mets shouldn’t trade for, 2 they should consider adding

The Mets should avoid trading for Nolan Arenado

Imagine throwing Nolan Arenado out of your fantasy Mets roster. Enough time has elapsed from his best days. Even with the Colorado Rockies continuing to eat a part of his deal and the Cardinals possibly stuck with a portion of his salary for the remainder of the deal, Arenado has lost a lot of his appeal.

The 2022 season was Arenado’s last huge campaign. He led the league with a 7.7 WAR. Smashing 30 home runs, 42 doubles, and driving in 103 helped him finish third in the MVP race. His reign as the NL’s Gold Glove third baseman continued. It was his tenth straight.

Many signs point toward Arenado being on the decline. No Gold Glove over the last two seasons isn’t major even if several metrics, most notably his range, have fallen off. A lack of power last season, swatting only 16 home runs, his lowest in any full season since his rookie campaign in 2013, gives off too much of a scent of what we saw with J.D. Martinez this past year. 

Arenado remains skilled enough to the point where the Cardinals aren’t going to just hand him over like the Rockies seemingly did. He’ll cost good prospect capital. Is it really worth it? Just sign Alex Bregman at that point.